Waymo says it will run driverless rides in London in 2026

October 2025 — Waymo has said it will bring its driverless ride-hailing service to London. Here's what it announced, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of Oct. 15, 2025)

Plan: rides "with no human behind the wheel" in London in 2026, booked through the Waymo app. (Waymo)
Track record claimed: over 100 million fully autonomous miles and more than 10 million paid rides in the U.S., according to Waymo. (Waymo)
Permission: not yet granted. Waymo says it will "secure the necessary permissions." (Waymo)
Fares, fleet size and investment: not disclosed.

What Waymo announced

Waymo said that "over the coming months" it would lay the groundwork for the service with Moove, its fleet operations partner, and keep talking to local and national leaders about permissions for a commercial service.

The cars will be Jaguar Land Rover's all-electric I-PACE, the model Waymo uses in the U.S. Waymo says those cars serve "hundreds of thousands of fully autonomous rides every week" there and are also driving in Tokyo. It noted that London and Oxford host its first international engineering hubs.

"We're thrilled to bring the reliability, safety and magic of Waymo to Londoners," said co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana.

What the government said

The post quotes Heidi Alexander, the secretary of state for transport: "I'm delighted that Waymo intends to bring their services to London next year, under our proposed piloting scheme." She said the sector would bring "jobs, investment, and opportunities to the UK."

The key word is "proposed." The post doesn't say which permits Waymo needs, who issues them, or what role Transport for London will play.

Who runs the cars

Moove, which announced the expanded partnership from Dubai the same day, says its partnership with Waymo began in the U.S. and that it "already operates a well established mobility business in London." It will "lay the operational groundwork" for the service. By Moove's own account, it runs the world's largest manned ride-hail fleet, with more than 39,000 vehicles in 29 cities; we haven't checked that claim. It lists Uber, Mubadala and BlackRock among investors that have put in over $500 million in equity and debt. "For Londoners, this marks the beginning of a new era," said Ladi Delano, Moove's co-founder and co-CEO. Neither company said how many cars Moove will manage in London or who will employ the staff who clean, charge and repair them.

Who else spoke

Waymo's post includes supporters. Robin Spinks, head of inclusive design at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, said he had "long hoped for the day when technology can safely enable spontaneous autonomous travel." James Gibson, executive director of Road Safety GB, said Waymo's vehicles had "performed far safer compared to human drivers across more than 100 million autonomous miles." Both the mileage and the safety comparison rest on Waymo's own U.S. figures, which we haven't independently checked; neither man cited a London figure.

What went wrong

No rules yet. The service depends on a pilot scheme that was still a proposal at the time of the announcement.
No numbers for London. Waymo gave no fleet size, service area, price or start month.
U.S. data, London claims. The safety case quoted in the post comes from Waymo's own figures for U.S. cities, with different roads, laws and driving habits.
One-sided sourcing. Every voice in the post is a supporter. Taxi and minicab drivers, who stand to lose work, aren't quoted.
What we don't know yet: which permits Waymo will apply for, when, and whether London's transport authority must consent.

Our follow-up question for Waymo

Which permits will Waymo need before it can carry London passengers with no one behind the wheel, and when does it expect to apply?

Later developments (added Oct. 2026)

On Jan. 28, 2026, the BBC reported that Waymo hoped to run a London robotaxi service as soon as September 2026, with a pilot from April. A Waymo spokesperson said pricing would be "competitive" but "premium." (BBC)
In a Freedom of Information response published March 18, 2026, TfL said it held no authorisation for Waymo and had received no application from Waymo to run driverless. It said the relevant parts of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 were not yet in force. (TfL)
On April 14, 2026, TechCrunch's Kirsten Korosec reported that about 100 Waymo I-PACEs were testing across a 100-square-mile area of London, with a human safety operator behind the wheel. (TechCrunch)
By October 2026, London's rollout had slipped, Highways magazine reported from TfL's evidence to the London Assembly (Highways; Part 2).

Sources

Waymo, “Hello, London! Your Waymo ride is arriving,” Oct. 15, 2025. waymo.com
Moove, “Moove and Waymo expand partnership to bring autonomous ride-hailing to London,” PR Newswire, Oct. 15, 2025. prnewswire.com
BBC News, Zoe Kleinman, “Driverless taxis set to launch in UK as soon as September,” Jan. 28, 2026. bbc.co.uk
Transport for London, FOI-4488-2526, published March 18, 2026. tfl.gov.uk
TechCrunch, Kirsten Korosec, “London gets closer to its first robotaxi service as Waymo begins testing,” April 14, 2026. techcrunch.com
Automated Vehicles Act 2024 (c. 10), legislation.gov.uk. legislation.gov.uk
Highways magazine, George Barker, “Robotaxi rollout in London delayed, TfL tells London Assembly,” Oct. 21, 2026. highwaysmagazine.co.uk

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder